As the recent outbreak of swine flu threatens to escalate into a pandemic, researchers are piecing together the phylogenetic tree of the A(H1N1) virus to elucidate how it came to be. Indeed, the 2009 A(H1N1) virus contains a unique combination of gene segments from North American and European swine lineages, with ultimate origins in the avian viruses. The host and lineage origins for the 2009 A(H1N1) gene segments are portrayed in the above image. The disparity between the 2009 A(H1N1) virus with its closest known ancestors suggests that its gene segments have been circulating undetected for quite some time. At present, the virus has a low genetic diversity indicating that it was introduced to humans in a single event, or multiple events involving similar viruses. Of the 2009 A(H1N1) virus, full or partial genomes of 17 isolated in Mexico and 59 from the USA have been sequenced. It also seems that novel molecular determinants could be responsible for its transmission amongst humans.
Source:http://www.sciencemag.org.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/cgi/rapidpdf/1176225v1.pdf
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